Egress and Fire Safety

A means of egress is the continuous and unobstructed path of travel from any occupied point in a building to a public way. It consists of three parts: the exit access (corridors, aisles, and rooms leading to an exit), the exit itself (enclosed stairways, exterior doors, horizontal exits), and the exit discharge (the path from the exit to the public way, typically at grade level). The IBC requires at least two exits from every story (with limited exceptions for small spaces), and exits must be remotely located—separated by at least one-half the building's diagonal distance—to ensure that a single fire cannot block both escape routes simultaneously.